Almost 9:30 here and is 73 degrees

Joan, it is 1:30 here (EDT) and in the low 80s.  It is 78 in here and I am about to turn on the air. 

Funny story about Kendrick:  Tom ordered a couple of oblong scratching pads for him.  While trying to open a packet of catnip, I had one of the pads on my lap - lengthwise.  There was no catnip on the pad yet, but I suppose some of the odor got onto it and Kendrick jumped up on the scratch pad and started scratching.  I tilted the pad to see what would happen and he stayed on it for a few minutes, then jumped off.  I never did get the catnip opened, so cut the package and spread a bit on the pad, then put the pad on the floor.  Crazy cat!

Mary Ann

MaryAnn, only half my bed is, you understand that one!

Taffy, does not pay any attention to catnip.  Buy her a gray felt mouse and it is lost in 10 minutes, the white one sets where I gave it to her.

Patricia, I am so happy to see you post.  It was a card I sent you in email.

Nothing on tap here, this long holiday weekend.  It would be great to go back in time, and enjoy a tasty neighborhood barbecue, with volleyball, swimming and safe&sane fireworks, but those days are only a pleasant memory now. 

joan - I'll follow your lead, and make some guacamole for today.  Do you add salsa to yours or just plain with spices?  I have leftover ravioli casserole from last night, so that should go well with the guac. 

Patricia - That's shocking about the bear attacks. Sounds like they were totally unprovoked - just mother bear protecting her babies.  Lots of them around Lake Tahoe, where we used to vacation in the summer, but they were disinterested in humans . . . only in search of our garbage.  The same at most campgrounds in Yosemite 

Mary Ann and MarsGal - are either of you doing anything special for the holiday? I hope you both have something of interest to do on the 4th?

I don't have anything planned, Marilyne. George is, once again, out of town, so my excitement for the next week is the trip over to his house to check on and feed them their daily ration of wet food. I don't know that I mentioned it before, but he has five cats.

Marilyne, I don't know if we'll have anything going or not.  Usually, Tom is off with his friends and Dot and I get together.  She and I will discuss it Sunday.  Much of her family will be north of here where they have shares in a cabin and they always invite Dot but she hasn't been in years.  In fact, I think they're there now.  We're going to be in Holland for Tom's 60th birthday so I doubt we'll go down for the 4th.  We were just there for Father's Day and we don't want to make it too hard for them, although James loves to have a barbecue.  With traffic etc, I'm content to stay here and Dot lives a couple of streets north of me in our complex, so traffic would not be a problem.  Since I am not driving now, I don't care.

I finally had to turn on my air because it got a bit warm in here.

Mary Ann

Hi everyone. We are having another overcast day with still chances for more rain.  However, it is going to be hot and humid as well. 

I am going to attend my Saturday meeting this morning and afterwards stop at Walmart to pick up Pat's online order.  That will save another trip downtown.  Other than watching some golf this afternoon I have nothing else on my schedule.

Yesterday garage called and said our car was ready for pickup.  So in mid-afternoon we drove down to get it and it was sitting outside.  So I told Pat to just go on and meet me at the Church parking lot as we were going to eat our main meal of the day before coming home.  I pay the bill and get in the car and start it and try to put it in gear and the gear shift just moves around without going into any gear.  So I go back in the garage and the service person comes out and checks and has the same experience.  Apparently in the repair work being done the shift cables were disconnected so I had to leave it.  I was going to call Pat but the garage said no they would take me where I needed to go so the owner young son took me to meet Pat.  We then went out to a BBQ place for our meal.  We hadn't been there before and we found the food very good.  It may be after the 4th of July before I can get the car but told them I wasn't in a hurry as seldom use it.  I have never had an experience like that before where the repair garage broke my car. 

Joan, I hereby give you my share of the avacado's.  I am glad you enjoy them.

MarsGal, I have never enjoyed reading Science Fiction.  However, that does sounds like a very interesting book you reading.  Do you participate in the Sci-Fi discussions on the Seniorlearn website that replaced the Books Discussions on the old SeniorNet?  I mainly read or listen to mystery or historical books for casual reading.  I listen to a lot of music and treat myself to a monthly subscription to Spotify where I can listen to music without ads.  I can create playlists of individual artists as well as mixed playlists to have a variety.   

Mary Ann, it sounds like you made Kendrick's day with the scratching pad and catnip. 

deAngel, I guess Taffy has seen gray mice and can relate but not to the white one.  I remember our cat would knock his toys under furniture where he couldn't reach them and I had to get on my hands and knees to retrieve them. 

Marilyne, fireworks apparently have never been banned here in South Carolina and we have a couple of large fireworks store just over the State line.  They were banned in Georgia but a year or so ago the law was changed and at least some types of fireworks are legal.  Of course, being legal or not didn't prevent people from using them for the 4th and often on New Years.  We will have another quiet 4th as we usually do.  Our years of attending fireworks displays have long past and we enjoy such displays on our big TV that has a great picture and you can control the noise of the fireworks. 

Larry, our state must have OKd the sale of fireworks within the last few years because I see tents with fireworks for sale.  I don't know if there are restrictions on the types that can be sold.  I've been hearing firecrackers at night for a couple of days and I know I'll hear them past July 4. 

It is 72 degrees at 10 am and I think it will get warmer as the day progresses.  I have no plans for anything and I like it that way.  If we have any celebration, we have a package of hot dogs and a package of hamburger patties.  Also some hamburger buns.  So far no plans have been made.

Mary Ann

Thanks Larry, gonna have to stop this tho as there is a LOT of calories in one avocado.

Tis only 63  here at 8:30

Fireworks are not sold or allowed in any of the cities or towns here . . . however, they can be purchased in unincorporated areas outside the cities, that are called "county strips".  Every year it's the same old thing here, in that there are warnings and stories on the news about how the police are cracking down on illegal fireworks, et al.  They never do.  Business as usual, every 4th of July, as far as fireworks are concerned. 

I don't mind the so called "safe and sane" fireworks.  They are relatively harmless, and the young children get a thrill out of watching dad set them off.  I remember how I loved sparklers when I was a girl, and my kids loved them too.  I never knew of any harm that came to any child from a sparkler.

However, times have changed!  People don't follow the rules anymore, and now the dangerous kind of fireworks can be purchased online, or people drive to San Francisco Chinatown, and buy them there.  Bottle rockets and mortars, and M-80 firecrackers are all over the place.  They are dangerous, and extremely loud.  Out here where I live there have been no problems . . . but in San Jose, in the more crowded residential sections of the city, it's a BIG problem!  The police cannot keep up with all the illegal activity, so every year there are lots of injuries and general chaos. 

Good Morning Everyone.
It looks like tomorrow is going to be hot,
but  otherwise for the 10 days or so,
it isi going to be warm but not too hot.
That is unusual for July, which tends to be hot  and humid.

Kelly's two girls,  Maeve and Maggie have joined her
in Switzerland....   (The two of them will be travelling
around  Europe and the UK for the nexti six weeks,   

Kelly will spend this week with them,  then they
are separating and the girls will be on their own
for the next 5 weeks.        WOW

Kelly and I traveled Europe in the 80's,  and now her
and her girls are doing the same.   

Life is funny sometimes .   
"What goes around seems  to come around, 
sometimes. 

I have been spending time watching them fly away
and of course worrying about them all.     

But I am glad that they are happy and able to
enjoy life.    (still)

All is well, have a good weekend !

Sorry u had problems with the car Larry!

Sandy

Marilyne, you are right about people not following the rules.  Fireworks are legal here but the rocket shooters are not.  The people behind us here have  been shooting off rocket shooters for the 12 years I have lived here.  No one stops them.

Larry, much of the Science Fiction is space opera, military, or apocalyptic, but there plenty of very good ones that don't fit into those categories. Another very good medical scifi is Lock In by John Scalzi. It is something of a detective story where the main character a police detective who is almost totally paralyzed. From his bed he operates an android which is his contact with the outside world as he goes about his job. He is investigating a murder and discovers a major medical company is trying, by various underhanded and unlawful means, to corner the market for its product and make patients totally dependent on it.

Ursula Le Guin prefers the term speculative fiction for her writing. Much of what she writes, even though they may be off-world, are strong on social, psychological, and cultural aspects. Most famous of these are The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossesed, and The Lathe of Heaven. The first two are part of the Hannish Cycle series. There have been two TV adaptations of The Lathe of Heaven , PBS in 1980 and A&E in 2002. The A&E production was not a good because it dropped some characters and a good bit of the plot.

Elizabeth Moon wrote Remnant Population which is about an older woman, part of a colony that is forced to relocate because of regulations against colonizing a world where there is other sentient life. She determined to stay against regulations. The main of the story is how she taught herself to survive on her own, as well as  learning to communicate  and befriend with this native population, eventually teaching them to use the technology left behind by the departing colony. This is one I always highly recommend. If I remember correctly, Jane Goodall's work with the Mountain Gorillas was her inspiration for the story.

Unfortunately, not much is going on over on Senior Learn lately. Most of the few of us left that regularly participate are reading and discussion Number our Days. The Science Fiction and Fantasy discussion group appears to have dwindled down to PatH and myself. The most active part of Senior Learn by far is the Latin classes. Even though we try to encourage our Latin enrollees to join in the other discussions, but few do.

Oh, super. It is raining again. It is 1pm and 82 degrees. The humidity is almost making breathing difficult outside. I remember one year, back in the 70s or early 80s that is was so humid there was fungus growing on the grass in the shady areas and I felt like I was breathing underwater, even in the house.

I'm not happy when neighbors shoot off fireworks in close proximity to the houses. I am always wondering if one of them with go awry and bust through a window or start a fire (not to mention injuring people).

Good morning from the Interior. It is cool and plus 54 presently at 7:47 AM but we are expected to be back at plus eighties with some clouds and some sunshine today. Today is my day to go down with my cart and help people haul their food boxes to their apartments and pick up and deliver boxes for shut-ins. The cart from Amazon has been a real workhorse around this building. I don't take it outside because I don't need it or want to take it on a bus or fold it in a taxi.

The boxes are light with charitable giving down as it has been the last five years. Oil and gas employment is down and so charity begins just at home now. Our previous governor had been a corporate lawyer for the gas and oil companies and really pushed for and gave huge tax breaks to those companies for promises to keep drilling and to look for more oil. To no one's real surprise, when oil stocks became depleted, the companies began pulling back. And to no one's real surprise, that ex-governor is now "back working" for those self-same oil corporations.

The bear attacks are unusual for the amount in such a short period, but this is bear country and Anchorage is as well. Where that city sits on a narrow strip of land between sea and mountains, Fairbanks was erected for gold strikes and river proximity but also inadvertently in prime native hunting grounds so bears, moose, and other animals are plentiful in the arboreal forests. Fairbanks sits among five rivers and bears, wolves, moose and other animals use those rivers as highways. You just don't normally see or hear them. And they avoid the downtown areas. We also have part of Creamer's Wildlife Sanctuary in city limits and it is full wilderness other than the front viewing area which is open fields and ponds.

When the Today Show was discussing the other bear attacks and the sixteen-year-old killed by the bears, they made a point of the fact that their correspondent was talking to them at 3:56 AM and that it was bright and sunny out. Then they just said "Well, it is Alaska," in a sage way but I found that to be an incongruous bit and disrespectful while talking about a teen's death.

Another point to consider is despite several public announcements, rules, enacted laws, etc., people still leave animal and human food out, and do not use state mandated electrical fences for domestic stock. There are consequences for shooting bears without definite loss of life probability. One couple was charged and arrested for shooting any and all bears on their property. Yet they had food out and an open garage door with a chest style freezer in the garage that a sow simply ripped the lid off. This was in 2015.

We are expecting a large barbecue for the fourth. There are three gas grills and the company has delivered a variety of foods. I am helping to donate paper plates, napkins, and butter. We are also having a sign-up list in the downstairs social room. People have already signed up for several guests. The company supplies food and meals for five major holidays and our hospitality committees provide and or organize for the others. It is the usual 80/20 rule prevailing here but I have noticed participation is declining unless it is free and then we get a crowd.

Fireworks are illegal here as well, especially with our previous drought of several years. And relatively dumb in my mind with our summer's twenty-four-hour daylight. But, as in your areas, there are still the idiots that enjoy setting them off and the usual parade in and out of the hospitals of said idiots. The majority of city-sanctioned and provided fireworks are at the winter solstice celebration and at the University's New Year celebrations.

Farrah has been happy lately, playful and verbal, growling while she chased down an errant felt mouse or played "whack a mole." Yesterday she surprised the heck out of me when she came over to the computer desk, raised up and leaned against me, and purred. When I leaned down to pet her, she scampered over to the closet containing her treats and looked back expectantly. A lesser person might have been a tad suspicious....

Larry, I will read anything and everything, but I do enjoy anything historical or classwork. I actually feel I am addicted as I am frustrated, bored and irritable unless I am reading a book or book series. I have some favorite authors and am not a fan of book series spread out over a number of years. I'm also taking seven photography or "How to's" courses at Udemy.

https://about.udemy.com/

Larry. Twice have I had service done to my cars. Both at the Dealers. At one they took the oil out but never put new back in. Good thing I stopped to fill gas tank and they checked the oil. (did that back then). I had just gone a mile.
Next was putting in a new battery. He got one from the parts dept. checked it out but then put the old battery back in . He had gone home when I went to pick up car. Went 2 miles down road and light came on. Turned and went back to Sears and Manager took care of it all.

It is still so hot and humid here and again I cancelled the carpet cleaners for today. I keep cancelling everything. We got a bad storm last night but just made it more humid.
Just not been turning Computer on or even reading many in S and F. I seem to be way to moody.

Jeanne, Tom had something similar when he was driving my car.  He took it in for oil change, got the car and went a mile or so and the light came on.  He checked the oil and there was none in the car.  They had changed the oil, but forgot to put the cap (or whatever) on so the oil leaked out.  The dealership put the oil in and did not change Tom for the work, knowing what could have happened.

I feel I've got to find a new hobby as there are fewer posts on the computer and there is nothing that appeals to me on TV.  I do have some music on the TV but that doesn't require any attention. 

The cat would love more attention but I can't get to a point to play with him.  I did let him out the front door this afternoon and after a few minutes he was ready to come in.  He's safer on the deck and I prefer to let him out there.

Mary Ann

Mary Ann - When you find that new hobby, let me know what it is!   I agree that there are fewer posts here in S&F, as well as in other computer message boards.  It seems that once a member stops writing their usual number of messages, or length of messages, that it's hard for them to get back to it again.   I'm trying to stay active, even though people probably think my posts are way too long, and most likely don't even read them. It's hard for me to say anything in one or two sentences.

In person, I don't talk much - but on the computer, I probably "talk" too much! LOL!  As I've said before, I think that Facebook has killed the online message boards.  On FB, it is preferable to stick to a one or two sentence comment.  That's the way it's set up, because the topic comments, photos, news stories, etc., move so quickly!  You can write more if you want to, but I doubt that anyone ever reads the longer responses. 

Marilyn, I haven't found that new hobby yet, but it should be something constructive other than computing.

I'm with you on being unable to say anything in one or two sentences.  I read all of every post in those folders I visit.  I have this thing that I have to explain everything so a person knows what I mean.  Usually no reading between the lines!!!

I'm about to watch History Detectives - the programs are old, but interesting.

Mary Ann

Good evening, it looks like rain any moment, I can hear the races on at the tract, and later on they will have fireworks.  I can set on my front steps and watch them.

I read the post a couple of times a day.  Marilyn and MaryAnn and all others that post in here, I so enjoy reading what you write.
I look in Facebook once in a while, to see what my grand daughter has to say.

I do not post every day, as I feel I do not have anything interesting gone on, in my life.  Like to day a neighbor took me grocery shopping, first time I had been out in over a week.  the walking in the store is good for me.  Thursday I am suppose to go to a Red Hat luncheon. at the golf club.

I seem to be enjoying computer just less and less.  also. Use to email a lot of people. go into Forums and other things. It seems now that people are dropping out. Most seem to prefer Iphones or be on Facebook. I don't care for either one. I am back wanting to just Snail mail again. Doing lot more reading. Watching movies. Just to hot at the moment to get into other hobbies and travel any. Will just try making plans for the Fall. I have lost 4 long time friends this year and that is making lot of difference.

Jeanne, I agree with you about I phones and Facebook.  I'd just rather talk to friends in person or here on Seniors and Friends.  Too many people on I phones and Facebook say things that hurt others or especially on any kind of phone, talk too much and aren't careful about what they say that might hurt other people.

I do check my e-mail daily as well as Seniors and Friends.  I don't post in every forum, but like to see what others are doing.

I hope your weather has cooled down a little.  I think the last post I saw from you was about the terrible heat you were having.  We've warmed up some, but it's not been oppressive yet this summer--actually pretty mild summer so far for Alabama!

Sue

Hi everyone. We had a hot, humid and dry day yesterday.  Today may be the same although showers are possible this afternoon and evening.  We expect this to be our normal Sunday with attendance at Sunday School and Church and then getting something to eat before coming home for a restful afternoon. 

About 2 pm yesterday the garage called saying my car was ready.  They offered to send someone out with it that I could then return to the shop.  That way Pat didn't have to get out again as we had been out yesterday morning.  That worked out well and all seems to be well with the car.  It now shifts well. 

Joan, I understand that avocados do have a lot of calories. 

Marilyne, we always get the same news story warnings about fireworks but they might as well save their breath.  With the drought conditions and so many forest fires in the West I would think people be more concerned.  I suppose after a time some people tire of posting.  I have been doing it so long, now over 20 years, that it is a part of my daily routine and I so enjoy reading all the messages, whether short or long, that as long as we have the discussions available and I am able I expect to be posting.  My wife and others have asked me what my daily men's coffee group find to discuss.  I told them it was probably what we discussed last week or told the same old stories but that wasn't important as it was the social interaction that matters and besides at our ages we generally forget from day to day what is said.

Sandy, that is a long time to spend in Europe.  They should be able to see a lot of interesting sites and country in that time.  Hopefully the car problems are over for a while at least. 

MarsGal, thanks for sharing the info on the Sci-Fi books and authors you have enjoyed.  I marvel at authors ability to come up with a lot of the stories they do and especially in that genre. 

Patricia,  I bet your work in helping deliver the food boxes are appreciated.  Those little carts some in handy and sure save the back.Sorry to hear the charitable giving in down in your State.  I guess people think the warning about leaving food out are for others until something happens to them.  The upcoming barbecue for the fourth sounds nice. Taking seven classes at once would be a real task.  That sounds a lot like work. 

JeanneP, there is a Kroger gas station in the town where we lived before moving here and one time the tanker driver put diesel fuel into the regular gas storage bins.  That caused serious engine problems to several cars that filled their gas tanks with it, including one of my friends.  Fortunately the problem with the gears shifting had to do with the cables on the manual shift being disconnected or loose and I didn't get away from the garage.  I am sure they were able to quickly fix the problem an hopefully all is fine now.  In the problems you experienced again the technician wasn't paying attention to what he was doing.  I know Illinois can be very hot in the summer based on having lived in Springfield for a litle over a year and having to go out on new road projects to perform audits.

Mary Ann, it sounds like many of us have experienced similar car maintenance and repair problems. I have also noticed that we are having fewer postings in our discussions.  I am glad that you and others don't try to say everything in one or two sentences and that I am allowed to write as much as I want since I don't seem to be brief in my writing (which I am sure I didn't need to point out to anyone). 

deAngel, your postings are always interesting.  Most of us don't have too many new things in our lives to write about but that is just life.  I sometimes think I could go back and copy last weeks postings, especially for Sundays as I usually do the same thing most days.  Glad you were able to get out and some grocery shopping. 

Sue, I am also in that group regarding Facebook but would not want to give up my iPhone as use it for a lot of different things everyday.  I do try to not post anything that might be hurtful to others as that is never my intent. 

Mornin all.  Well my 'wander lust' daughter has left ARK. this morning.  Seems her next stop is back to NV to sell some of her stuff and get a smaller storage locker.   Hope she has a safe trip. Stay tuned for updates.  LOL

Good morning from a rather damp and rainy Interior. We're at plus 59 now and only expected to go up into the mid-seventies accompanied by more rain so I'm sure it will be an inside day for me. Farrah is occupied with watching the inland gulls ride the wind currents outside our windows and I, having just downloaded another large Microsoft update and having had my coffee am ready for my day.

I know many have left the site due to arguments with other posters and or the way this site is going forward. It is becoming more of an American and less of a universal slant so many do not in their opinion, find a place here other than in one or two discussions. This is not necessarily bad, just not the way others see themselves going. Also, Facebook and other similar sites accord the user the opportunity to be with not only family and friends but also groups of their own interests or nationalities. Again, not necessarily bad, just a change over time.

I do not post as much as I did on Facebook, I like the more neighborhood atmosphere here but there are also times I feel more at home on Facebook.

Dot and I did our usual Sunday thing this morning, church, then OTB.  We each had our usual burgers but next week we may have tuna melt that we split.  We always also have something sweet while we're waiting for our main course.  Today it was a long john with marshmallow filling.  Sometimes they have lemon custard filling and we both prefer that.  But if they don't have them, we take what is available.  We sometimes split a cream pie.  Or course, we don't eat again until late afternoon. 

When I got home, Tom was here, eating his brunch.  He left shortly after and will be gone most of the day.  He did some Uber driving last night and was disappointed when he got stuck in traffic and literally could go nowhere.  They had fireworks at a park by the river and I guess they were over as he was downtown and could not go anywhere.  He can't make money that way. 

Dot and I both said we have nothing going Tuesday and we kind of welcome a day when we don't have to do a thing.  That doesn't mean we won't have our own little picnic, but we made no plans.

It is about 75 degrees now and very pleasant.  I think the cat and I will go out on the deck and enjoy it while we can.  Eventually the sun will take over the entire deck and that's when we stay inside with the air on.

Since I'm not on Facebook or Twitter or other social place, I do enjoy being part of S&F and reading about what others are doing.  I think I post in too many folders, however, I post mainly here and in Soda Shoppe.  I post different things in each because the cast of characters is different.  I post mostly to comments that interest me or involve me.  I try to hold my temper, but sometimes it comes out!!!

Mary Ann

Larry.  The summer you spent in Springfield. Ill. Nothing like what we are having this year. I have been here I Urbana since 1965 and never gone through such hot weather that just is lasting. Back up into the 90 again today.
About the only way I know what my family are up to these days other than one daughter still phones a lot. She lives, as most do 1000 miles away and lives on her Iphone. Grands. they only Text now. Never on E-Mails.

Sue . Was over in the Depression folder . I usually go through all of them as very little in most anymore. I call me right now. Just Bored to death. All these hot days. Can't take my long walks but get some walking in at the Library, Stores. Just hate dressing to go. At home I just am jumping from one thing to another. Start a book, watch a show or dvd  Fact i spent 3 days watching on I had not heard about. "The Affair" Got season 1 and 2. 5 hours each. Got hooked on it. Now have to wait for Season 3.
Have some people across the street that come here for 4 months. Still she keeps her home here.  I tried buying it a few years ago but she won't sell.
Has lives rest of time in Alabama. Came because say it is cooler here in summer. I think maybe she has gone back already. Hotter here.
That is one place I have never been to. Alabama. I love coastal areas and don't know why. It and Maine are on my Bucket list. Not been Maine either. Almost . Done east coast and up into all of Canada. Don't know why I didn't stop. I have just got to get to the sea soon. Been to long and I miss it. I need to just get into my car and head out.  Will wait until cooler though.

I post mostly here in Norms's B&T, and in the Leisure Activities forum.  Occasionally, I will comment on a picture in Photos Old and New, and will always join in a Trivia Game, if one is offered there.

When Pat first started S&F, Radioman and I were designated Discussion Leaders, in the Leisure Activities forum. Don, of course, is still running the Classical Music discussion, as well as carrying on with his live radio program every Sunday.
I’ve stayed mostly with the Library Bookshelf and Television & Movies boards, and I think both are still doing reasonably well, as far as posts are concerned.  We have a few members there who have been with us since Senior Net. I felt bad when we lost Mary Page, as she was a contributor to those two discussions, and always wrote long and interesting posts.  The Poetry Corner and Just Plain Old Music, are very slow now, but still have occasional messages. 

Marily, i did not know there still was a poetry corner, once I lost it. To night I am watching the last show of the Good Witch. I started watching it a few years ago. I call it a gentle show, if that is a way of describing it.

Candy is in New Mexico tonight.

"It has been said that a pretty face is a passport. But it's not, it's a visa, and it runs out fast. "
-Julie Burchill, writer and journalist (b. 3 Jul 1959)

I love  that quote!